CHAPTER XBILLY AND BOBBY WARN THEIR FRIENDS

To feel as happy as you wouldTry working for the general good.Billy Mink.

To feel as happy as you would

Try working for the general good.

Billy Mink.

Bobby Coonhad been so frightened when he had sprung that trap by the Laughing Brook that probably he would have run clear back to his home in the Green Forest had he not found Billy Mink waiting for him at the old log where they had met earlier in the evening. Billy was grinning.

“What are you running for?” he demanded. “I thought you were not afraid.”

Bobby Coon stopped. “It—it tried to catch me,” he panted. “It jumped right at me.”

Billy Mink chuckled. “But I see it didn’t catch you,” said he. “Didn’t I tell you it wouldn’t hurt you if you put your paw under it? That kind of a trap is perfectly harmless as long as you do not step in it. I’m glad you sprung it. I sprung the one on the other side of the Laughing Brook the same way. Now, both of those traps are harmless. They will be until the trapper sets them again. We can go up and down the Laughing Brook through the openings in those little fences with nothing to fear as long as those traps are in plain sight. That trapper will probably come around to-morrow, but for the remainder of to-night there is nothing for us to worry about. Let’s go down the Laughing Brook to the Smiling Pool.”

The idea of going down to the Smiling Pool was too much for Bobby Coon to resist. So he followed Billy Mink down the bank of the Laughing Brook. When they reached the trap which Bobby had sprung, Billy Mink kicked it aside as he passed. It was plain to see that Billy had known what he had been talking about when he had said that now that trap was perfectly harmless. Then, without hesitating, Billy slipped through the little opening in that fence the trapper had built. That proved there was nothing to fear there now, so Bobby followed. He had to make the opening big enough to get through, but he did this by pulling up a couple of the sticks.

Jerry Muskrat was swimming over towards his house.

When they reached the Smiling Pool, they saw Little Joe Otter sitting on the Big Rock. Jerry Muskrat was swimming over towards his house.

“Hi, you fellows!” called Billy Mink. “Come over here. We’ve something to tell you.”

Little Joe Otter and Jerry Muskrat had a race over to the place where Billy Mink and Bobby Coon were waiting.

“What is it you have to tell us?” demanded Little Joe. “I don’t believe it’s anything important.”

“That depends on how you look at it,” retorted Billy Mink. “Somebody has been setting traps along the Laughing Brook. I’ve found three of them, and Bobby Coon and I have sprung two of them. We thought we’d just come down here and give you fellows warning.” Then Bobby and Billy told Little Joe and Jerry all about those traps.

CHAPTER XIBILLY AND LITTLE JOE DECIDE TO GO VISITING

Don’t scoff at one who runs away;He’ll live to scoff at you some day.Billy Mink.

Don’t scoff at one who runs away;

He’ll live to scoff at you some day.

Billy Mink.

Aftervisiting the Smiling Pool and warning Little Joe Otter and Jerry Muskrat to watch out for traps, Bobby Coon decided that the Laughing Brook was altogether too dangerous a place for him, so he turned back into the Green Forest, firmly resolved to keep away from the Laughing Brook. Billy Mink and Little Joe Otter talked things over.

“I found three traps,” said Billy Mink. “There may be some I have not found. Anyway, it is certain that when that trapper finds that I know about those traps, he will set some more. I don’t believe he is smart enough to hide a trap so that we cannot find it. But you know, accidents will happen. He knows that you and I live along the Laughing Brook and he will simply make life miserable for us by continuing to set traps. Do you know what I believe I’ll do?”

“What?” asked Little Joe Otter.

“I believe I’ll go away for a visit,” replied Billy Mink. “I’ve been feeling rather restless for some time, anyway, and there isn’t any better time of year to go visiting than right now, before the snow and ice come. There’s a certain brook some distance from here that for a long time I’ve been thinking of visiting. I believe I’ll start to-night and I’ll stay long enough for this trapper to get tired of setting traps and catching nothing.”

“That’s a good idea,” said Little Joe Otter. “I believe I’ll go visiting myself. I always did like to travel. There is no sense in taking foolish risks, and that is just what we would be doing by staying here. I think I’ll go down to the Big River and stay awhile. The fishing here isn’t as good as it might be, anyway. I wonder if Jerry Muskrat will go visiting too. Let’s tell him what we are going to do and see if he wants to go along with one of us.”

“He can’t go with me,” declared Billy Mink, in a most decided tone. “He travels too slowly. I don’t believe he would want to go with me anyway, because, between you and me, I suspect Jerry is a little afraid of me.”

Little Joe Otter grinned. “I guess he has reason to be,” said he. “I’ve been told that the Mink family has a liking for Muskrat meat. I hardly think he’ll want to go along with me either, because he is such a home-loving body. But anyway, we’ll tell him what we’re going to do and then he can do as he pleases.”

So Billy Mink and Little Joe Otter hunted up Jerry Muskrat and told him how they were going to fool the trapper by going visiting. They urged him to do the same thing.

CHAPTER XIIBILLY HAS THE WANDERING FOOT

If to yourself you would be true,Use all the talents given you.Billy Mink.

If to yourself you would be true,

Use all the talents given you.

Billy Mink.

Whena person becomes uneasy and cannot settle in one place for any length of time but wants to keep traveling, he is said to be possessed of the wandering foot. This means that he wants to wander about in search of new scenes and new adventures. To put it very plainly, he becomes sort of a tramp.

Billy Mink for some time had felt a desire to go visiting. These traps gave him a real excuse for so doing. So Billy turned his back on the Laughing Brook and started for another brook some distance away. He had not intended to go farther than this brook. But when he got there he found that the fishing was not as good as he had hoped it would be, so he decided to keep on moving until he found a place where food was plentiful and he would be contented for a while.

Now while Billy Mink is a great lover of the water and is almost as much at home in it as Jerry Muskrat, he is equally at home on land. In fact, Billy often wanders long distances from water. He likes variety, and there are times when he would rather hunt than fish. He is a very good hunter, as many a mouse and bird has found out too late. So, leaving the brook where the fishing was poor, Billy started off across country for nowhere in particular. He is one of the most independent of all the little people of the Green Forest and the Green Meadows. He never worries over where the next meal is coming from. He feels quite capable of taking care of himself, wherever he may be. No one understands the art of hiding better than does Billy Mink. He is quick as a flash and the way he can disappear when apparently there is nothing to hide under is astonishing.

So Billy wandered about aimlessly, just having a good time. He traveled mostly at night, though occasionally he became restless during the day and continued his journey then. In the Green Forest he hunted Whitefoot and Mrs. Grouse. In the open meadow land he hunted Meadow Mice. When he came to a brook he went fishing. So, at last, his wanderings brought him to a farmyard. There was a big barn there. Also there was a henhouse containing many hens. Between the henhouse and the barn was a big woodpile. At the sight of that woodpile, Billy grinned. That was just the sort of a place he liked. You know he is so slim that he can slip through very small places, and he knew that in that woodpile he would be quite safe.

“This place looks good to me,” said Billy. “I think I’ll stay awhile.”

CHAPTER XIIIBILLY MAKES HIMSELF AT HOME

Enough to eat, a place to sleep,A coat to shut out winter’s chill—What more can anybody askTheir cup of happiness to fill?Billy Mink.

Enough to eat, a place to sleep,

A coat to shut out winter’s chill—

What more can anybody ask

Their cup of happiness to fill?

Billy Mink.

Thebig woodpile between the barn and the henhouse in the farmyard Billy Mink had discovered was a regular castle for Billy. That is what it was, a regular castle. Billy is so slim that he could slip through the openings between the sticks in much the same way that Striped Chipmunk pops in and out between the stones of the old stone wall. Billy doesn’t need much room and he soon found that down underneath that wood were little chambers plenty big enough for him to curl up in.

The first thing he did was to make himself thoroughly acquainted with that woodpile. He found every opening that led into or under it. He learned every little passage it contained. He picked out one of the best of the little chambers down underneath in which to sleep when he was tired. No one could get at him under that woodpile. He felt as safe there as ever he had felt anywhere in all his life. It made him chuckle to think how safe he was there, and all the time he would be living right close to those two-legged creatures called men, who delight in killing such little people as Billy.

As soon as he had become thoroughly familiar with that woodpile, Billy set out to explore the surroundings. His new home suited him, but a home without food would be as bad as no home at all. So Billy started out to see what chances there were of making a good living.

First he visited the henhouse. It didn’t take him long to find a way under the henhouse and discover a hole in a dark corner of the henhouse floor through which he could slip with ease. But Billy didn’t go inside that night. Billy possesses a shrewd little head. He had had experience enough with men to know that it was best for them not to know he was anywhere about. He knew that those hens belonged to men and that the instant they found one killed or missing they would begin to hunt for him. So, though the smell of those hens made Billy’s mouth water, he decided that he would see what other food was to be found.

From the henhouse Billy went over to the big barn. This was another place just to his liking. Underneath it was dark, the very kind of a place Billy liked. There were holes up through the floor. Billy sniffed at the edge of the first one he came to and he knew right away who had made that hole. It had been made by Robber the Rat. Billy’s eyes sparkled. It would be much more fun to hunt Robber the Rat and his relatives than to kill stupid, helpless hens.

CHAPTER XIVBILLY HAS GOOD HUNTING

He longest lives who runs awayWhen danger lurks along the way.Billy Mink.

He longest lives who runs away

When danger lurks along the way.

Billy Mink.

Billy Minkloves to hunt. He is one of the best hunters among the little people of the Green Forest and the Green Meadows. Not even Reddy Fox is a better hunter than Billy Mink. In the first place, Billy has a wonderful nose. He can follow the scent of a Mouse quite as well as can Reddy Fox. Then, too, Billy possesses sharp ears.

The instant Billy caught the scent of Robber the Rat at the edge of the hole in the floor of that barn, he forgot all about the hens over in the henhouse. He popped up through the hole on to the barn floor and his nose found the scent of Robber the Rat stronger than ever. Billy began to follow it just as Bowser the Hound follows the scent of Reddy Fox. It led straight over to a grain bin. Just as Billy reached one end of the grain bin, a big gray Rat, with two others at his heels, scrambled out of the other end of the grain bin and with squeaks of fright scampered away. How they had known of his coming, Billy didn’t know. Probably they had smelled him, for Billy has quite a strong scent of his own. Anyway, they had discovered his presence.

With a bound Billy was after them. Almost at once the three Rats separated. Billy didn’t hesitate. He followed the largest one. He followed him with his nose; that was all he needed to guide him.

Now that Rat knew every nook and corner and every hiding-place in that big barn. Also he knew that there was no place big enough for him to get into which Billy Mink could not get into too, and fear gave speed to his legs. Behind and under boxes, over grain bins, squeezing through narrow places and racing across open places, the Rat ran, with Billy behind him. At last he was cornered.

Instantly that Rat changed completely. He whirled about and faced Billy Mink, showing savage teeth. He was big and strong and he intended to fight. For just an instant Billy Mink stopped. Now a Rat is quick but Billy Mink is quicker. That Rat was no coward. He fought and he fought hard, but he fought in vain. He could not get those wicked-looking teeth of his into Billy. In less time than it takes to tell it, the fight was over and Billy Mink had his dinner.

Now Billy knew all about Robber the Rat and his relatives. He knew that they were outcasts among all the little people of the Green Forest and the Green Meadows. He knew that not a single thing could be said in their favor. He knew that the Great World would be a better place for everybody if there were no Brown Rats in it.

“There is good hunting here,” muttered Billy, as he turned to go back to his new home under the woodpile. “As long as there is such good hunting here in this barn, I’ll keep away from the henhouse.” Then he went home and curled up for a nap.

CHAPTER XVA DEN OF ROBBERS

Greed and Selfishness are twinsWho lead the way to greater sins.Billy Mink.

Greed and Selfishness are twins

Who lead the way to greater sins.

Billy Mink.

WhenBilly Mink started to explore the big barn in the farmyard where he had decided to stay for a while, he didn’t know that he was entering a den of robbers. But that is what he was doing. Yes, Sir, that is just what he was doing. You see, that barn was the home of ever and ever so many of the tribe of Robber the Rat, and each one of them, big and little, was a robber. They lived by robbing, which, you know, is another name for stealing.

Now those robbers had lived in that big barn so long that they had come to look on it as belonging to them. They knew every nook and corner and cranny in it and under it. The farmer who owned it had tried his best to kill them or drive them away. But those robber Rats simply laughed at all his efforts. They were smart. Oh, yes, indeed, they were smart. Robbers often are quite as smart as honest people. They were too smart for that farmer.

All those Rats belonged to the Brown Rat tribe. Not that they were all brown. The fact is, the older ones were quite gray. But that was because they were old and had grown gray with age.

Not all Rats are bad. There is Trader the Wood Rat. He is honest and respected by his neighbors. But all the Brown Rat tribe are outcasts, despised by all the little people of the Green Meadows and the Green Forest, and hated by man. There is no good in them. They become robbers as soon as they can run about, and they remain robbers as long as they live. There is not an honest hair on one of them. They hate the sunlight, for their deeds are deeds of darkness. They are savage.

But with all this, they are clever, very clever, indeed. They are so clever that, in spite of all man’s efforts to kill them, their tribe has increased until it is probably the largest tribe of little people who wear fur in all the world, excepting the Mouse tribe.

The farmer who owned that barn had set traps of many kinds, but the wise old leader of the Rats had found each trap and warned all his relatives. The farmer had tried to poison them, but somehow their wise old leader always knew where the poison was and warned them against it. A Cat had been brought to catch them, but the tough old fighters among the Rats had driven that Cat out.

So the Rats had increased, and the greater the numbers, the more they stole. They gnawed holes wherever there was a chance of getting food. They got into the farmer’s house and did great damage there. In the spring they had killed young chickens in the henhouse. They stole eggs. In fact, these robbers did as they pleased, and the big barn was their den.

CHAPTER XVIA ROBBER MEETING

To judge another by his sizeIs, to say the least, unwise.Billy Mink.

To judge another by his size

Is, to say the least, unwise.

Billy Mink.

Itwas night in the big barn. It was the night after Billy Mink’s visit, when he had killed the big Rat there. As soon as Billy had left the barn, the gray old leader of the Rats had sent word around that all the Rats in the barn should meet him at once at their usual meeting-place under the floor.

As soon as the word was received, each member of the robber band hurried to the meeting-place. They knew why the gray old leader had called them together, and as they hurried to the meeting-place, there was fear in the heart of each of them. It was long since fear had been known in the big barn. It was the first time some of them ever had experienced fear. You see, they had been so well taught how to avoid traps and poison that they did not fear those things. They had made the Cat afraid of them, so they did not fear the Cat. It was no trouble at all to keep out of the way of the farmer, so they did not fear the farmer.

But this slim, brown enemy who had entered their den so boldly, and had run down and killed one of their number, had brought fear with him. So, as from every direction the Rats scurried to that meeting-place, they continually looked behind them for that slim, brown creature who moved so swiftly and from whom even their gray old leader had run away. Most of them did not know who Billy Mink was, for they had always lived in that big barn, and no one at all like Billy had ever been there before.

As soon as all the Rats had answered his call, the gray old leader began to speak. “I have called this meeting,” said he, “to decide what we had best do. A terrible enemy has come among us, and, as you know, has killed one of our number. He has left the big barn, as I know, because I watched him. For the time being we are quite safe. But when he again becomes hungry, he will return.”

“Who is he?” squeaked a young Rat. “He didn’t look very big to me. If we all get together, I don’t see why we should be afraid of him. We drove out that Cat, and that Cat is a great deal bigger than this fellow. Who is he, anyway?”

“He is Billy Mink,” replied the gray old leader gravely.

“And who is Billy Mink?” squeaked another half-grown young robber.

“He is sure death to any Rat he may start out to catch,” replied the old leader. “He belongs to the Weasel family, and all members of this family are enemies of the Rat tribe and more to be feared than any other enemy we have.”

“Why can’t we hide when he comes?” asked another young robber. “I never have seen any one I couldn’t hide from.”

“Then, unless I am greatly mistaken, you are likely to have a chance,” snapped the leader.

CHAPTER XVIITHE ROBBERS DECIDE TO FIGHT

A bad name sticks as naught else canTo bird or beast or boy or man.Billy Mink.

A bad name sticks as naught else can

To bird or beast or boy or man.

Billy Mink.

Whenone of the young robber Rats at the meeting of all the Rats in the big barn boasted that he never had seen any one he couldn’t hide from, all the other young Rats nodded their heads in approval. You see, they prided themselves on knowing every hiding-place in that big barn, and they never had known an enemy small enough to follow them to these hiding-places. When the gray old leader of that robber gang said that unless he was greatly mistaken they were likely to have a chance to see some one they couldn’t hide from, they at once demanded to know what he meant.

The old leader looked around the circle of Rats waiting for him to speak. There were big Rats, little Rats, and middle-sized Rats. There were Rats gray with age, and sleek, brown-coated Rats. He counted noses. Every Rat of the tribe, save only the babies too small to leave the nests, and the one whom Billy Mink had caught, was present. In the faces of the gray old Rats he could see worry. Like himself, they understood the danger they were in. In the faces of the younger Rats there was no worry. It was plain to see that they felt quite confident of being able to take care of themselves. Never in all their lives had they met an enemy they could not run away from, and he knew they didn’t believe such an enemy lived.

“Knowledge of life is obtained only through experience,” he began. “You who are so sure you can hide from this new enemy are confident because you are ignorant. Cats and Dogs you do not fear, because you can go where they cannot follow. But this Mink who has found our den can follow where any of you, even the smallest, can go.”

“But if he does not see us hide, how can he find us?” squeaked a sharp-nosed young Rat.

“A Mink does not have to see in order to follow,” retorted the gray old leader. “You cannot move without leaving a scent which he can follow by means of his wonderful nose. All he has to do is to find where you have been and then follow straight to where you are hiding. He can run faster than you can and longer than you can. There is no escape from him once he sets out to catch one of you. The best fighter among us is no match for him alone. I tell you, friends, our tribe is in danger. It is in the greatest danger it ever has faced. I have called you together to make this plain to you and to get your ideas as to what we should do.”

For a few moments no one spoke. The worried look on the faces of the older Rats had crept into the faces of the younger Rats. Finally a scarred old fighter spoke.

“It seems to me,” said he, “there is only one thing to do, and that is, fight. What one of us alone cannot do, all of us together can. I propose that the next time this enemy appears, we all attack him together.”

To this all the Rats agreed.

CHAPTER XVIIITHE RATS PLAN TO KILL BILLY MINK

An idle boaster, it is clear,Is he who says he knows no fear.Billy Mink.

An idle boaster, it is clear,

Is he who says he knows no fear.

Billy Mink.

Ithaving been agreed by all the Rats in the big barn that they would stand by each other and all attack Billy Mink at once, the next time he appeared, they immediately began to feel better. Only the oldest ones shook their heads doubtfully and continued to look worried. The younger ones boasted. Had they not driven away the Cat which the farmer had put in the barn to catch them? And was not the Cat very much bigger than this new enemy? They began to talk among themselves of the fun they would have when Billy Mink should next appear.

“I’m not afraid,” said one.

“Nor I,” cried another. And all the rest of the young Rats boasted in the same way.

But the gray old leader still shook his head and looked worried. “It is all very well for you to brag of what you will do,” said he. “But bragging never yet won a battle. If we would keep our homes here in this big barn, where many of you have spent your lives, we must make our plans to kill this terrible enemy. It will not do to simply drive him away, for he might return when least expected. Always there must be two or three on watch. The instant that Mink appears, warning must be given, and then all of us fall on him at once. As I told you before, the best fighter among us would be helpless if he had to face that fellow alone. But if we all attack him together, there will be nothing to fear.”

So certain of the sharpest-eyed Rats were appointed to watch all the holes through which Billy Mink might enter the big barn. When it should become necessary for them to go hunt for food, other Rats were to take their places. All the others scattered to their homes. Some lived under the barn, some lived on the main floor of the barn, and some lived in the hay loft. The old Rats were still worried, but the younger ones were filled with pleasant excitement. They rather hoped that Billy Mink would come soon. They wanted to show how brave they could be. Not a doubt crept into the mind of one of them that all would end as they had planned.

Meanwhile Billy Mink was comfortably dreaming in the little chamber he had chosen under the big woodpile between the big barn and the henhouse. Billy’s dreams were pleasant dreams. That is, they were pleasant dreams for him. He dreamed he was hunting Rats. Yes, they were very pleasant dreams for Billy. But had any of the Rats in the big barn had those dreams, they would have been anything but pleasant. It is funny how in this world the things which are very pleasant for one are very unpleasant for another.

CHAPTER XIXTHE DANGER SIGNAL

The evil-minded fear the light,But love the darkness of the night.Billy Mink.

The evil-minded fear the light,

But love the darkness of the night.

Billy Mink.

Therewas a great deal of uneasiness in the big barn where the robber Rats lived. Would Billy Mink return or had he just made a chance visit and gone on somewhere else? The gray old leader of the Rats felt sure that Billy would return. He was too anxious to eat, and you know when a Rat’s appetite fails he must be very much disturbed indeed.

But the younger Rats thought the gray old leader needlessly frightened, and they went about their business of stealing food and gnawing holes wherever there seemed a chance of finding a new food supply, just as if nothing had happened. However, each hole which led into the barn was continually watched by sharp eyes. Those Rats did not intend to be taken by surprise a second time.

Rats prefer the hours of darkness. They hate the light of day. Perhaps that is because their deeds are deeds of darkness. So, when daylight came, most of the Rats returned to their beds to sleep. Only underneath the barn, where it was dark, did any of them continue to run about, seeking what mischief they might get into. But the wise, gray old leader saw to it that a watch was kept on each hole just the same as during the night. He didn’t think Billy Mink would come in the daytime, but he was wise enough to know that Billy Mink is forever doing the unexpected. He suspected that Billy would take great pains not to let the farmer who owned that barn know that he was anywhere about. “He’ll probably sleep all day,” thought the gray old leader, “but just as soon as it begins to get dark he’ll be back here. I just feel it in my bones.”

But it wasn’t dark when there suddenly sounded the danger signal from one of the watchers. In fact, it was broad daylight, the very middle of the day. You see, daylight and darkness are all one to Billy Mink. He sleeps whenever he feels sleepy, regardless of whether it be night or day. At all other times he is very wide-awake indeed.

It happened that Billy had wakened just about noon that day, and as is usual with him, after a nap, he was hungry. If he had been a Rat instead of a Mink, he might have remained under the woodpile until darkness came. But Billy is very sure of his ability to take care of himself. He first made sure that no one was about. Then he slipped out from under that pile of wood and a minute later he was under the barn. Then it was that the danger signal was sounded by the Rat who was watching the hole through which Billy entered. It was at once passed on from Rat to Rat, until every one in the barn knew that their enemy had returned.

CHAPTER XXWHY THE PLANS OF THE RATS FAILED

Beware the coward and the sneak;He dares to face none but the weak.Billy Mink.

Beware the coward and the sneak;

He dares to face none but the weak.

Billy Mink.

Youremember that the Rats in the big barn had agreed that if Billy Mink should return, they would all attack him at once and kill him or so frighten him that he would leave and never return. It was a perfectly good plan. Billy was more than a match for any single Rat. He might be more than a match for any two Rats. But if he had to fight all the Rats at once, he wouldn’t have the smallest chance in the world.

Those Rats had been very bold and brave when they had met to plan how they should get rid of this new enemy. Especially bold and brave had been the younger Rats. They had agreed that the instant they heard the signal, they would rush to do their part in the attack on Billy Mink.

Only the wise, gray old leader had been doubtful. He had not let the others know that he was doubtful, for this would not have done at all. But he knew what the younger Rats did not know, which was that born in every Rat is great fear of all members of Billy Mink’s family—a fear so great that when it is aroused all else is forgotten. He knew that such fear becomes terror, and terror destroys courage. It makes cowards of even those who are thought to be brave. So the gray old leader was doubtful, and that doubt increased the fear with which the very thought of Billy Mink filled him.

Now the gray old leader was not a coward himself. He would never have become a leader if he had been a coward. When he heard that dreaded danger signal, he scrambled out of the nest where he had been taking a nap and hurried forth to lead his tribe in the great fight they had planned. Almost at once he met one of the loudest boasters amongst the younger Rats, and this fellow was running in the opposite direction from the way he should have been going. More than this, he was squealing with fright. Then another and another and still another raced frantically past, each squealing with terror. He could not stop them. They were frantic with fear and gave him no heed.

In all directions he could hear frightened squeaks and squeals and the scampering of many feet. He knew then that what he had most feared had happened. The mere presence of Billy Mink had awakened that inborn fear, and each Rat was thinking only of himself and how he could escape. Sadly the old leader turned and fled to save his own life. He knew that their plans for getting rid of Billy Mink had failed and that he never would be able to make the other Rats stand and fight.

CHAPTER XXITHE RATS LEAVE THE BIG BARN

There’s nothing quite like fear to spreadAnd wrap the whole Great World in dread.Billy Mink.

There’s nothing quite like fear to spread

And wrap the whole Great World in dread.

Billy Mink.

Billy Mink’ssecond visit to the big barn had been an occasion of great pleasure to Billy and terror to all the Rats who lived there. He had hunted them just for the pleasure of hearing their squeals of fright and the scampering of their feet, as they raced this way and that way, seeking safety. With his wonderful nose he had followed them to their most secret hiding-places. Three he had caught, and he could have caught more had he really wanted to.

When he had become tired of the hunt, Billy had curled up for a nap in a corner of the haymow where it was dark and quiet. He had done this instead of going back to the woodpile. It was very comfortable there. Besides, it would be very handy to be right there when he felt like hunting again.

It wasn’t long before all the Rats knew just where Billy was. One of them had happened to pass near enough to smell Billy and had at once passed the word along to all the others.

“Now is the time,” said the wise old leader, “for us to get together and attack him. Who will join with me?”

Not a single Rat came forward. The gray old leader shook his head sadly. “You are cowards, all of you,” said he. “If you will not fight, there is just one thing left for us to do.”

“What is that?” squeaked one of the young Rats who had been loudest in his boasting before Billy Mink had appeared the second time.

“We’ve got to leave this barn,” replied the gray old leader. “If we remain here, it will be to die. That Mink will stay here, or if he doesn’t, he will keep coming back until he has hunted down and killed every Rat. We must leave the barn and do it at once. There is no time to be lost. Probably he is asleep now. By the time he awakes, we must be out of this barn. The Rat who doesn’t leave it now never will leave it.”

Immediately there was a great discussion. Every Rat there knew that the wise old leader was right. But where should they go? It was winter, and they could not live long out of doors. They must go to a place where they would find both shelter and food. They might as well remain to be killed by Billy Mink as to go forth and starve or freeze to death. At least that is what some of them said. Some suggested one thing and some another. Finally they turned to the gray old leader for his advice. They had followed him so long that they had learned to trust to his wisdom.

The rats leave the big barn.

CHAPTER XXIIBILLY MINK’S SURPRISE

A cause there is that will explainA mystery, and make it plain.Billy Mink.

A cause there is that will explain

A mystery, and make it plain.

Billy Mink.

Billy Minkopened his eyes. At first he couldn’t think where he was. Everything about him was strange. Then, all in a flash, it came to him where he was. He was in a dark corner of the haymow in the big barn where the Rats lived.

Billy yawned. Then he stretched one leg and then another. He yawned again, stretched some more, then lay quiet for a few minutes, trying to decide whether to take another nap or hunt those Rats again.

“I may as well learn all about this barn while I am here,” thought Billy. “One never knows when such knowledge may come in very handy. Besides, I want to find out where all these Rats live. How they did squeal and squeak, when they discovered me!” Billy chuckled at the memory. “It is great fun to hunt them.”

Billy lazily got to his feet and arched his back, which was one way of stretching. Then he started out to explore the big barn. Of course he didn’t go far before he smelled a Rat. That is to say, he smelled the scent left by the feet of a Rat. Right away Billy forgot everything but the fun of hunting, the game of hide-and-seek in which death was the price of being caught. He started out along the trail of that Rat. By and by, way down under some boxes, he came to a nest. It was made of old rags, torn paper, and other bits of rubbish. Billy didn’t knock to find out if any one were at home. No, indeed, Billy didn’t knock. He just popped his head right in. He expected to find some babies at home if no one else, because he knew that there are babies most of the time in the home of a Rat.

Right then, Billy got his first surprise. That nest was empty! Yes, sir, it was empty! There had been babies there, as his nose told him, but they had been carried away. Billy hunted about a bit until he found the trail leading away from the nest. This he followed. It led him downstairs to a hole in the barn floor, through this to the ground, and straight to an opening which led out of doors.

“Huh!” muttered Billy. “This is queer.” He ran about a bit and it didn’t take him long to discover that there were many tracks leading to that opening out of doors. He could tell by the smell that those Rats had gone out and not come back.

“It looks as if my future dinners have run away,” muttered Billy, and then he began to explore that barn in earnest. There wasn’t a hole or crevice or cranny in it that he didn’t poke his nose into. There wasn’t a Rat nest that he didn’t find. But not a glimpse of a single Rat did he get, not the squeak of a single voice did he hear. There wasn’t a Rat in the barn! When he had gone to sleep there had been many. He had heard them squeaking all about him. Do you wonder that he was surprised?

CHAPTER XXIIIBILLY HUNTS IN VAIN

All secrets, ’tis the law of fate,Will be discovered soon or late.Billy Mink.

All secrets, ’tis the law of fate,

Will be discovered soon or late.

Billy Mink.

Invain Billy Mink searched for Rats in the big barn. The smell of them was everywhere, but the Rats themselves had disappeared completely. Time after time, following a trail, Billy was led to the opening out of doors under the barn. It was clear that all the Rats had left the big barn, and that all had gone out the same way.

“They’ve moved off somewhere,” thought Billy. “I frightened them so that they didn’t dare stay here any longer. All have gone, young, old, big, little, and middle-sized. There is no fun left for me here in the big barn. I think I’ll follow them. Where they can go, I can go. They are a gang of robbers. They are ugly, dirty, and of no account whatever. In fact, they’re worse than that. They have so many babies at a time, and have them so often, that there is danger that they will drive their honest neighbors off the earth. Yes, I think I’ll follow them.”

Billy cautiously poked his head through the opening that led out of doors. Then he blinked with surprise. Outside everything was spotlessly white. It was snowing. It had been snowing for some time. Not a footprint of a single Rat was to be seen. Moreover, there was no scent for Billy to follow by means of his wonderful nose. The snow had covered their trail. Billy could only lick his lips and wonder in which direction those Rats had gone.

“If I knew more about this part of the country, I would know better where to look for those Rats,” muttered Billy. “As it is, I haven’t been here long enough to know about anything but this barn, the henhouse, and the big woodpile between the two. I wonder if they can have moved over to that woodpile or to the henhouse. The woodpile would give them hiding-places, but they wouldn’t find anything to eat there. If they have gone to the henhouse, they can hide underneath it and for food they can steal eggs and perhaps kill a hen. I’ve known Rats to do just those things. I’ve known them to kill chickens and then have the owner of the chickens blame me or Jimmy Skunk for it. I hate Rats. Everybody else does. I know nearly everybody, and I don’t know a single person who has a good word to say for Robber the Rat and his gang. I think I’ll run over to the henhouse to see if they are there.”

So Billy Mink went first to the big woodpile and from there to the henhouse, but not so much as the smell of a Rat did he find in either place.

CHAPTER XXIVWHERE THE RATS WERE

The mischievous will find some dayThat for their mischief they must pay.Billy Mink.

The mischievous will find some day

That for their mischief they must pay.

Billy Mink.

IfBilly Mink didn’t know where the Rats who had left the big barn had gone to, the farmer who owned the big barn and the henhouse and the woodpile knew. Yes, indeed, the farmer and his family knew just where those Rats were. They were in the farmhouse!

You see, the wise, gray old leader of the Rats knew that the safest place for them was in that farmhouse. In the first place it was big, and that meant that there was plenty of room with ever and ever so many hiding-places. There was food there, plenty of it, to be stolen. They could be very comfortable in that farmhouse. More than this, they would be safe from Billy Mink. That gray old leader knew that Billy Mink would hesitate a long time about actually entering the house, because of his fear of man. He didn’t believe that Billy would dream of looking for them in that house, especially if he couldn’t track them over there. This Billy couldn’t do, as the wise old leader very well knew, because it had been snowing when the Rats left the big barn, and the falling snow had covered their tracks and destroyed the scent.

So, while Billy Mink was looking under the woodpile and in the henhouse for those Rats, they were making themselves very much at home in the farmhouse. They could climb about between the walls and go where they pleased. The first thing to do was to make homes for the babies. It didn’t take some of those Rats long to find the way to the attic. Now the attic was filled with trunks and boxes and papers and all sorts of odds and ends. It was just such a place as Rats love. Right away the mother Rats began to tear up papers and make rags of clothing that hung in the attic. Rags and paper make the finest kind of a nest for a Rat. These nests they hid in dark places behind boxes and trunks.

And while they were busy with this, the father Rats set out to search for food. It didn’t take them long to find the pantry and gnaw holes through the wall into it. And they were not quiet about their work, either. The farmer and the farmer’s wife knew what was going on. They could hear the scamper of little feet across the attic floor and faint squeaks.

“Gracious!” exclaimed the farmer. “I should think all the Rats in the barn had moved over here.” He little guessed how exactly he had hit on the truth.

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